Explosion rocks emergency ministry

A car exploded outside a government building in the Tajik capital, Dushanbe, early on Monday, killing at least one person and injuring four more, according to government officials. "There was an explosion near the Emergency Ministry," Abdurakhim Rajabov, Deputy Emergency Minister, told IRIN from Dushanbe just hours after the blast. "It is being investigated. Particularly what caused the blast." "The blast was pretty powerful because the [Emergency Ministry] building suffered damage and all the window panes were blown away, not only in our building but in the buildings nearby," Jamilya Tilloeva, a spokeswoman for the ministry, told IRIN. Sarvar Azimova, Head of the Public Information Centre at the Tajik Security Ministry, told IRIN in Dushanbe that the blast killed the driver of the car and injured four passers-by. “Some people were wounded by flying glass,” Tilloeva added. A local news agency reported that the explosion was a terrorist attack, with AFP quoting Interior Minister Khumiddin Sharipov as saying that the explosion was caused by a quantity of TNT. Three hours after the blast it was reported that a fire broke out in the compound of the Tajik Security Ministry and a service building was gutted. But Azimova denied that either the blast or the fire were terrorist attacks. "According to the preliminary information, the blast was caused by a leakage of [propane] gas, which was used in the car," she said. A special team involving both Security and Interior Ministry officials has been established to investigate the incidents and gather more information, Azimova noted. Earlier this month, the US State Department warned about potential terrorist actions against Americans in Tajikistan saying that elements of terrorist groups allied with al-Qa'ida, including the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU) and other groups, remained active in Tajikistan and still posed a threat to travellers. "The US government is aware of increased activity of terrorist groups in Central Asia and recent information suggests that foreign fighters may seek to target Americans in the country. New tactics, to include the use of suicide bombers, have been employed by terrorists in neighbouring Uzbekistan," the report said. The incidents occurred just weeks ahead of parliamentary polls in the former Soviet republic scheduled for 27 February. Tajikistan saw a five-year civil war that ended in 1997 with a death toll of up to 100,000. A UN-brokered peace agreement based on power sharing between the pro-Moscow secularist government and Muslim opposition ended the hostilities.